14 Wild Flowers East of the Rockies 



EXAMPLES OF SPECIALIZED FLOWERS. 



By specialized is meant flowers that are incapable 

 of self-pollenization. 



The common apple or pear blossom is a regular, 

 simple and perfect flower. The stamens surround a 

 single central pistil; the anthers, however, mature 

 before the stigma develops, so pollen of a blossom 

 will have no effect should it fall upon the stigma 

 of the same flowers. It is not specialized to the ex- 

 tent of being dependent upon a certain insect, but 

 welcomes all kinds of bees. 



Alighting in the center of the blossom, the bee 

 commences to drain the base of nectar; as he turns 

 this way and that, in order to get all of it, the an- 

 thers dust him well with pollen and 'off he flies to 

 the next flower, perhaps one in which the stigma is 

 ripened; as he lands in the center some of the 

 precious pollen is left on its sticky surface and his 

 mission, as far as the blossom is concerned, is com- 

 pleted. 



Bluets, the tiny blue and white flowers that grow so 

 very abundantly in dry fields, have an interesting 

 lesson to teach us concerning plant ways. It is an 

 excellent example of a "dimorphic* plant, one hav- 

 ing two kinds of flowers. These different flowers do 

 not grow on the same plant, nor usually in the same 

 clump. The little pictures on the plate will serve to 

 show the different forms of the flowers, better than 

 I can describe them. Examine one little clump care- 

 fully and you will find four little yellow anthers in a 



